


Somebody To Lean On

by Crazy_panda_25



Category: Uncharted (Video Games)
Genre: Family, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Nathan doesn't think he'll be a good dad, Nathan loves Elena a lot, Sam knows his brother very well, Self-Doubt, Spoilers for UC4, Worry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-28
Updated: 2018-07-28
Packaged: 2019-06-17 14:54:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15463866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crazy_panda_25/pseuds/Crazy_panda_25
Summary: Hearing his wife say the words 'I'm pregnant' should have been the most amazing moment of his life and it was but Nathan's excitement for having to raise a new life is cut short by a gut-wrenching doubt of his own abilities. How do you go about being a good dad when you never had one? How do you give a little person a good childhood when you never knew one?Can Sam help his brother move past his doubts and finally allow himself to be excited for becoming a dad?





	Somebody To Lean On

**Author's Note:**

> Nobody can tell me that Nathan didn't panic when he found out Elena was pregnant with Cassie, it's just in his nature. Poor man never even had a relatively good childhood himself. This is my opinion of how it might have happened and how he managed to move past it.

Hearing his wife say the words 'I'm pregnant' should have been the most amazing moment of his life and it _was_ but Nathan's excitement for having to raise a new life is cut short by a gut-wrenching doubt of his own abilities. How do you go about being a good dad when you never had one? How do you give a little person a good childhood when you never knew one?

Nathan watches everyone's faces light up in a mixture of shock and excitement, when Elena and him announce the news, unable to allow himself to feel those emotions through his deep-rooted fear. He's happy, don't get him wrong, but he can't quite get a grip on his self-loathing thoughts.

Sully and Sam have the best reactions. Sully grins wider then Nathan's ever seen him smile before and hugs each of them tightly in turn. Sam, however, just stands there in a shocked silence, taking the information in. His eyes fall on Nathan almost immediately, as though reading his mind, his fears. Leave it to his brother to know him too well.

They both make their excuses, soon after, and slip outside into the cold winter air. Elena and Sully don't try to stop them, knowing Nathan and his brother need some time to talk alone. Once outside, they don't talk for a long moment, almost lost in the abundance of the thing they want to say.

Sam clears his throat, "You've been...distant for a while, little brother, and this is why, isn't it?"

"Nothing gets past you, does it," Nathan answers, staring out into his garden, "Crap. I'm struggling, Sam. I just...I can't get my head straight."

"About the baby?" Sam looks like he's trying to work out a complex puzzle and if he's trying to work out Nathan's brain, that's probably close to the truth, "You're scared, that much is clear, but you'll have to fill me in about what exactly you are scared of, Nathan."

Nathan shakes his head, looking at his hands, "I don't know. Everything? We...Our dad was a coward, he gave up on us without a second thought. He never looked back, Sam. Four months, four bloody months after we lost mom, he ditched us. I just...I don't want to be like him."

Nathan is stubbornly avoiding looking at his older brother, which is probably why he jumps slightly when Sam grabs his shoulders, turning the younger man to face him fully. His face is soft but firm, jaw clenched and determined to get his little brother to understand and more importantly believe him.

"Then don't be. Our dad isn't important, okay? He didn't care, not about us or mom or anyone but himself. You are not him, Nathan, and neither will you be him," Sam states, firmly, holding eye contact with his brother, "do you know how I know that? Because you're scared of being that so you'll avoid it at all costs. Like, would you become a clown?"

Nathan looks almost stricken at the mention of clowns, "like hell I would."

"Exactly," Sam says, triumphantly, letting go of his brothers shoulders to light a cigarette, "and I'll tell you something for nothing, brother. This kid will have the best life it can possibly have. Between yours and Elena's protective parenting and mine and Sullivan's bad influence, it will have a bloody blast."

"I wouldn't say you'd both ONLY have a bad influence," Nathan comments, looking over at his brother through the cloud of cigarette smoke, "between you both, you pretty much raised me without any parenting knowledge of your own and I turned out...alright."

"Precisely, if me and Sullivan can do it, you can do it," Sam smirks at his brother, stubbing out the cigarette when the door opens and Elena and Sully join them.

"We can do what?" Sullivan asks Sam, glancing over at Nathan and giving him a significant look that silently inquires whether he's okay, Nathan nods gratefully at him.

"Be an insufferable bad influence on the little Drake when it's born," Sam answers, grinning charmingly at Elena, who rolls her eyes, and moves to stand beside her husband, leaning her head on his shoulder.

"Do I need to be worried?" Elena asks Nathan, quietly, her tone only half joking. He can tell she's not talking about Sam and Sully's future 'bad influence.'

Nathan shakes his head, smiling sideways at her while putting his arm round her shoulders, "I had a bit of a wobble but I'm okay again now."

Elena furrows her brow, looking concerned, "about the baby or leaving again?"

Nathan sighs, inwardly cursing himself for ever giving her reason to doubt his reliability and think he could be contemplating bailing on her, "neither really. I'm excited about the baby, I really am. I just had a lapse in faith of my own abilities as a parent," he pauses for a second then adds, "And I can promise you, right now, I'm not leaving again. I'm happy here, with us."

"I'm glad to hear that, cowboy, because I'm quite happy to be here too," Elena says, grinning brightly, and, call him soppy, but Nathan is pretty sure he falls in love with her all over again, "should I thank your brother for knocking some sense into you?" She turns to the older Drake with a grateful smile.

"Someone had to," Sam comments, tossing his cigarette bud on the floor and starting to head inside, "I don't know about you three, but it's fricken freezing out here and I feel like getting at least slightly drunk to celebrate the new little person."

Elena laughs, rolling her eyes and following the oldest Drake inside while chastising him about throwing cigarette buds on the ground outside. Sam just laughs. Sully and Nathan hang back for a second.

"Hey, Sully?" Nathan starts, biting his lip in thought as he contemplates what he wants to say and how to say it, before shaking his head and simply saying, "thank you."

Sully looks confused, "what for, kid?"

Nathan shakes his head briefly, "A lot...everything really. More then you'll ever know."

Sully rolls his eyes, "you know I hate it when you talk in riddles, Nate."

Instead of explaining a meaning he doesn't fully understand himself, Nathan just grins at the man, who has been a father figure to him since he was a teenager, and changes the subject, "are you looking forward to being a grandad?"

"No chance. I'm not being called grandad," Sully answers, shaking his head and glaring at Nathan, "the kid'll call me Sully just like everyone else, that clear?"

"We'll see, old man," Nathan grins, pushing the door open and walking inside with Sully following closely him behind him complaining about being called old.

Maybe he won't be a perfect dad. Maybe there's no such thing as a perfect dad. But something's for certain, Nathan'll do his best because that all he can do. Elena, Sully and Sam will be there to help keep him on track and prevent him from falling into a cobweb of doubts in his mind. Because that's what family does, isn't it. Blood or no blood, they are here for one another, no questions asked. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this! Comment and Kudos are always welcomed and appreciated.
> 
> Also, fun fact this is my 100th fanfiction (only third in this fandom) on this site, how crazy is that? You'd think I'd know what I'm doing by now but it's still questionable :) And do you want me to tell you what keeps motivating me to keep writing? The readers. Your comments and kudos mean so much to me so thank you!


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